This is a call center. You will be confined to your cubicle for 9 hours a day with two 15 minute and one 30 minute ASSIGNED breaks...you cannot combine them. Nothing exciting to report about the work day. All you're doing is making/receiving calls to/from doctors offices while determining the necessity of an ordered treatment (chemotherapy, MRI's, etc). Basically preauthorization screening. The people on the other end of the call are not health care professionals (and the majority of the people reviewing the cases ARE), so you have to speak in lay terms in order to obtain pertinent information. Most of the callers will tell you they have "been on the phone all day", so by the time you get the call, they're less than happy so you spend your time trying to de-escalate their attitude. You're also supposed to spend no more than 10 minutes on a call and there is a LOT of copying, pasting and editing of information from a pre-printed template that you MUST use during calls! In the beginning, you could probably type faster than trying to highlight, copy, paste and edit but that's SERIOUSLY frowned upon. Calls are recorded and will be reviewed for personal audits. In addition to trying to decipher the information over the phone you're asking for, you are typing said information into the computer while simultaneously attempting to follow the "guidelines" set forth. There are also TWO computer screens at your desk with NUMEROUS windows of job related information that you have to
ProsLarge, bright and well stocked break room
ConsShort breaks and lunches, high insurance premiums and seemingly irritated trainers
1.0
Customer Support Representative | Middletown, NY | Apr 6, 2021
Good For Higher-Ups, Frustrating For Entry Level
A typical day at work was logging in to your system, and then just taking phone calls and following-up with members you promised to call back and resolve issues. I learned a lot about medical and prescription insurance and how it works. Training was supposed to have been eight weeks, but cut short to six weeks so that we were thrown into handling nonstop calls on January 1st, the busiest time of the year. We never got much hands-on training, and the majority of my training class left for another job or quit in the first week. The trainer herself was excellent.
My hiring class was trained to use newer computer systems that my manager was not familiar with and while she was nice, she was clearly overwhelmed with the work load. We were quickly transferred to another manager who is pleasant, but quickly gets overwhelmed and frustrated with you if you needed assistance. Frequently managers and higher-ups would tell us to not give out information that could help members with little reason as to why, which makes it very easy to feel that the company ultimately does not care about helping members, just cares about money and numbers. I am not naive, I knew the job would be like this. I did not expect the management and some of my coworkers to be so immature as to constantly gossip about eachother, nor did I expect my managers to give me conflicting answers or tell me to simply give misleading or incomplete answers to members over the phone to resolve an issue sooner.
I saw very few
ProsGood deal of paid time off, benefits are okay. Pay and workload are good if you are not in an entry level position/
ConsFrustrating, conflicting information, underpaid for workload which constantly increases, management is underqualified or uncaring.
When I started I was filled with hope and promise. I had an amazing benefit package and was moving through the ranks. Even under a tyrant of a manager I was often given duties that were fun and allowed me to be creative. I also was able to assist in other areas that allowed me to learn and take on new duties expanding my knowledge and work diversity at Anthem. However, the money was soon not enough and I was stalled because I had reached my maximum in my title and department. I had to be promoted and move out of my department.
Now I am left feeling empty, and frustrated. I am often unable to do anything challenging other than to get other departments to do their work so that I can complete my work. Often times these other departments will not answer emails, or IMS. It matters not how many managers are CC and many times it is the managers and leads the emails are directed to and they simply will not respond. There are time limits and guidelines that are expected to be met. This is frustrating when you care and want to meet those guidelines because your bonuses and your raises are dependent on those being met. Not to mention the fact of being a decent human being and wanting to do the right thing for another human being.
Then there is the entire ethics that you start to notice as you work here. It is a business, and you have to remember that. However if you have a shred of empathy you have to learn how to table that most days and not get into the story of an issue. Ma
I am sorry I did not listen to colleagues and not work there.
Most everything that was promised in the offer and welcome letters--like: assistance setting up the many pieces of equipment at home/phone system--never happened, had to figure it out myself. Training-offer letter stated I would have a training buddy, mentor-never happened--this person did not exist just like the phone/IT team that was supposed to be there to help--they had all been recently let go. The Computer training program was out of date and much of the interactive portions did not work. The training manager was useless and often not available, he was literally more interested in making jokes and silly quiz show questions than actually training or mentoring anyone. The managers were changeable and deceptive, stating that our phone stats would not be counted for the first three months and that all they would be used for is mentoring. Not true. When I asked to terminate my contract at the 6 month point as I did not feel this was a good fit, the manager said "either you quit today or I will fire you!". I asked on what basis she would fire someone who is asking to be released from a contract so that I would not incur further bonus money that would need to be paid back--she stated " you are slowest on the team". I said "what happened to not using stats for anything but mentoring in the first 3 months (I was in month 2 of live calls post 3 months of training) I was never offered mentoring during the 2 months of live calls. Also, considering the first two weeks I received zer
ProsThe only pro was working from home
ConsBeing made to feel like a factory assembly line instead of a nurse trying to help members.
1.0
Customer Support Representative | Mason, OH | Sep 27, 2019
False Promises and Blatant Lies
The one thing that the new hires at Anthem can always agree on, is that they were lied to when they interviewed. New Candidates are provided a mental picture of Anthem that promises unlimited potential for career advancement, flexible hours, generous time off, and learning opportunities that can be taken advantage of at any time.
Truth is - you can't apply for a new position until you have been with the company for a solid year. No exceptions. When you are hired in to the call center, you are told that there is a 8:AM shift - but you will never see it until you have been there over six months. Your starting shift will be 11:30am to 8pm. No exceptions. The hours are NOT flexible. You have to ask for a day off weeks in advance, if you can find someone to show you how to request time off. More often than not, you have to open the system and try your best to request time off, only to find that you chose the wrong PTO option. They do have something called VTO - Voluntary Time Off. This may sound appealing, the truth is that VTO is 'offered' when call volume gets slow. At first they ask for volunteers. If none are found, Management will go around and just randomly choose people for VTO. You have to get up from your desk and leave work - and not get paid for that day.
You are told that you can take advantage of the classes online and the tutorials as much as you want - the sky is the limit. This is a lie. My last manager reprimanded us for staying after work or coming in earl
ProsBi-Weekly Pay, Decent Health Insurance
ConsLunch too short - 30 minutes, No raise or opportunity to change positions for one year, Quarterly bonus is about $90 after taxes.
I was hired at Anthem Insurance for the Amerigroup division in Overland Park, KS. The job was your typical customer service position helping out Medicaid members with their problems. From the moment I interviewed for this job, I like many others were either lied too or had the truth hidden from us.
I interviewed for the job in April of 2018. During the interview the two managers advised me the department would grow. So much so that it was hinted they would hire more people in the fall of that year after my training class was done and integrated fully into the job. That was the first lie.
What they didn't tell me is that at the moment of the interview, Amerigroup was in the process of bidding with three other companies for the Health Care Organizer status for Kan Care. The medicaid program for the state of Kansas. Later talking to other employe's who were there for over a year, no one knew of this until the hammer came down. More on that later.
Another lie during the interview was there were a lot of chances for advancement. But later when hired, during the training class we were told 85 percent of the non customer service jobs were clinical. Meaning unless you had experience in the clinical field or were a nurse, you had no shot at getting one of those jobs. You were stuck in customer service.
In mid-July word came that Kan Care choose not to accept Amerigroups HCO bid and by the end of the year we would all be without a job. The news came out of nowhere becau
ProsEasy in and out access to the highway, Cafe in the building, eating options around the building, plenty of parking and newer building.
ConsPay is low, no transparency in the company, was lied too during the interview, no advancement, forced shift bid, and other departments didn't want to help you out with anything.
4.0
Customer Service Representative | Indianapolis, IN | Dec 1, 2021
Team environment like family
The 2 different teams I had the honor of being a part of work together smoothly and treat each other like family. There is a sense of trust and belonging. Where one person may be falling other teammates will pull them up and when someone is succeeding the team cheers them on and wishes them to do well. The culture Of this company is established during training and stressed upon. Human beings in general tend to be followers in this area, meaning that when management and the training department set a certain tone for the work environment, the other employees will follow along with what the leaders do, whether that is good or bad. In this case it was a very positive. Management Is very helpful and strives to help their team members move up the ladder. Everyone wants to see everyone else do good. In the 29 years I've been in the workforce I have found that this is a rare quality.
There have been a few incidences where a manager well sabotage one of their team members being promoted if it's in a different department by contacting that manager and telling them not to hire them so they can keep that good worker on their team. It doesn't happen very often but often enough that it's an issue. Lots Of businesses offer discounts for Anthem employees, there's discounted health insurance, trusted and established company that people know about already making it one of the best in the world. What I especially like about the customer service department is that we are allowed to be ourselves
ProsFlexible schedule, work/family balance is mandatory, competitive pay, great benefits, picky when hiring new associates, culture diversity, quarterly bonuses, open communication between management and hourly associates, ongoing training, established and trusted company
ConsNo wiggle room when it comes to sticking daily schedule, allowed very little time off phone for other tasks, uses points system for attendance, some management likes to micromanage
Anthem is like any other for profit health insurance company, but a bit worse. You're simply a robot and must have your butt in the seat. Everyone works from home (all the time, not just during the pandemic) so the company installed trackers on the computers that monitor everything you do. You better not take too many bathroom trips or your manager will be calling to ask why you have so much idle time. If you're an efficient worker, you better slow down or you'll be penalized by getting more work from those who aren't so efficient.
There's no accountability. When an error is made by a non-nurse, instead of management sending it back to the original person so it can be fixed, the nurses are told to fix it. The nurses are tasked with correcting everyone's errors as well as their own.
Other departments permanently dump unwanted tasks on my department. The manager won't stand up for us and say "no, my staff has their own work to do with very strict turn around times". The manager allows others to do this and we are expected to just accept it and be quiet. Literally every week there's a new task put on us because another department doesn't want to do it. Nurses are now tasked with doing clerical work in addition to the main clinical duties.
Managers won't develop employees. The company has a career development program but it's for decoration only. Unless you're a manager favorite, you will not get any chances to work on your career goals in this company. There are l
ProsWork regular business hours, college reimbursement, 401k with company match
ConsEverything else
1.0
Customer Service Representative | Tampa, FL | Aug 28, 2015
On a day to day basis answering members/providers claim and member services
It's been over a year and to be honest I regret til this day going with this company and leaving my previous employer all because I thought this company actually cared about their employees for all the hard work you put in and would be a great opportunity to advance your career path. In less than one year we were previously wellpoint then switch over to anthem in the beginning of the year. They first train you in member and provider services answering general questions about the members plan and eligibility on benefits and copays then in a couple of months or less you'll be trained in claims. From what i was told from managers you would have a lot more career advancement once your claims trained. Unfortunately that's not the case its really all based on who you know if you want to move to another department even if your competitor has the lower performance than you they'll get the position before you do cuz of a friend that works in the dept they applied, also being that it's such a small depth on the medicare feels like your in HS all over again because a few people no a lot of people have two many side conversations you can hear it from your desk about another coworker's business and telling it to the whole OE's, Managers and etc. Even the OE's are very unprofessional on how they communicate with the associates and talking about their associates to others in the dept. The Overtime is a joke, they'll offer OT during the enrollment period but if you sign up for 30 hours you'
Prospotlucks
Conspay, benefits, company contracts, policies, no advancement
Anthem has a great culture, great benefits, and offer remote positions. I give Anthem 3 stars for the following reasons:
Management - Your entire experience at Anthem is heavily influenced by your manager. While I'm sure there are good managers, a lot of them are cliquey (especially in customer service) and do not manage based on performance - if your manager actually likes you and you do an average job, your chances of furthering in your career are far higher than if not. I personally have had managers disclose details of a medical condition & subsequent treatment to other managers and even some associates. I have seen associates who do amazing work, extra projects, training teammates etc who they refuse to give a raise or promote because of personal opinions by their managers. If your boss wants you to advance in your career, you will. If they don't, they'll do whatever they can to inhibit your professional growth and possibly even find a reason to fire/get you to quit. Finally, some managers don't even interact with their associates. I have never had my manager train or coach me on anything - the extent of her involvement is limited to department meetings, organizational news and approving time cards/attendance. Managers should invest in and professionally develop their associates for the greatest chance of success in their careers. The managers at Anthem I've had fail to do this in any capacity.
- Human Resources. There is a huge disconnect in communication in the HR dep
ProsAmount of PTO available, benefits, 401k match up to 5%, great culture/employees
ConsCliquey, management can be dreadful, pay can be bad, stress can be extremely high
Questions And Answers about Anthem, Inc.
When do they give you the drug screen
Asked Sep 25, 2016
New York, NY 9/2021 - 9 Panel Urinalysis in the week or two prior to onboarding.
Answered Oct 21, 2021
No drug testing in Texas and even if they did if they did if you are one of the managers favorites it wouldn't matter
Answered Dec 17, 2019
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at Anthem, Inc.?
Asked Nov 28, 2016
Highlight the experience and skills that match the position you are applying for . Additionally transparency is key for any job .
Clear communication is always the best way to start .
Answered Dec 18, 2021
If you really want to work for Anthem, move to India,
Answered Mar 5, 2020
What is the interview process like at Anthem, Inc.?
Asked Oct 3, 2017
Screening interview by phone asked for experiences explaining difficulty situations. Followed with a phone interview with person who would be my manager. Explained position, reviewed resume, asked a few questions about how I would handle situations. Offer later that week by email.
Answered Jun 17, 2021
I got an email, went to face to face interview with 2 managers then couple of days later I got yhe offer but the background check took at least 2 weeks to clear out
Answered Aug 25, 2020
What is the best part of working at Anthem, Inc.?
Asked Dec 4, 2019
The great big sigh of relief on your last day, when you leave for greener pastures
Answered Sep 12, 2021
The benefits and the breaks throughout the day
Answered Nov 18, 2020
What advice would you give the CEO of Anthem, Inc. about how to improve it?
Asked Mar 17, 2017
Remember that Anthem is an American based company, serving American people, and stop sending the jobs overseas. You are hypocritical in what you say vs what you do. If Americans really knew your business practices and the direction you are driving the company, which is in the direction of the cheapest labor you can get, they would take their business elsewhere.
Answered Mar 5, 2020
Give Nurses a chance that have a Nurse Compact License to work remotely. Only consider
nurses in that state, even though the job is posted for remote work. There are very qualified
nurses out there. Also nurses that are certified in HEDIS, but their resume gets passed up in other states. Its discriminating
